Snippet #2509360

Penance stepped before the crowd from the curtains, shirt ripped off by this point (no point in taking pain without showing it) and arms spread out.

"Hello cretins! Rejects of society! Sons of perdition! Daughters to the Man! I come to you, come to you all, to bear your sins! Stole from your mother? Cheat on your spouse?"

Penance sneered and chuckled into the crowd, but seemingly to himself.

"Killed a man?"

The crowd was silent, aside from some light murmuring. The stage lights dimmed, now only two spotlights were lit, focused on Penance himself.

"Then you have come to the right man. I'll be your doctor, your proctor, your light in the night! Come to me, and your sins will not be forgiven, but simply transferred. I am penance for the sinful, painless for the broken. Now come out, one at a time. Before me-" the floor opened up and a rack full of utensils emerged "-is menagerie of the nonliving, steel variety. Hammers, knives, pokers, nails of rust, bladed gauntlets. Use whichever to your heart's content. I am here for you, brothers and sisters."
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The crowd was apprehensive at first, but soon a man emerged and lifted a small hatchet from the rack.

"Go forth, brother. What sin have you committed?"

"I... I took a girl with me once, from a party. She was... she was drunk, and..." The man begins sobbing. "I... I took advantage of her! It was wrong, and I knew it, but I did it! I still did it!"

"Do not fret, brother. I am here for this reason."

The man looked down in guilt, at the hatchet. The crowd could see the gears turning until he finally acted.

"God forgive me!"

The hatchet fell, and blood followed the screams of the crowd. Penance shushed them, a difficult task with a curved blade in your chest.

"Be not afraid, brothers and sisters. For now you know how to pass on your sins. Let me bear them for you."

The crowd began yelling out, rushing to the front with their misdeeds.

"I killed the family dog!"
"I took my sister to bed!"
"I stole from a church to keep up my buzz!"
"I poisoned my wife for a year for the benefits!"

Sin and blood. Funny how two things never get old of each other. This went on for an hour, and Penance himself had to bring it to an end.

"Brothers and sisters, I must heal. I will, however, be here again next month. Come to me then, and I will heal your souls."

Calm and composed, Penance walked off stage. Lungs full of blood, he collapsed off stage. Doctors ran to his aide, despite his protests, and ran a quick diagnostic. Multiple lacerations, none yet deep enough for stitches. They would have to be bandaged for infection prevention, but nothing more.

"Really? Just some cuts? Then what's with the blood in my coughing?"

"Oh, yes. You've got tuberculosis right now. Might want to clear that up."

He turned to T.J.

"Wow, sick and I didn't know it. Now, how about we go visit Weasel back at my place, huh?"